The Climate Change Scoping Plan

La Ronda Bowen, Ombudsman California Air Resources Board

January 20, 2011lbowen@arb.ca.gov

What is Climate Change & Why Do We Care?

• Carbon dioxide & other pollutants from fossil fuel burning absorb infrared heat that would normally escape the earth’s atmosphere causing a greenhouse/warming effect.

• Changing rainfall patterns = more droughts/floods.

• Smaller Sierra snowpack=less H2O for power & farming.

• Higher temps = increased air pollution and health effects.

A Glimpse of Climate Change

• 2010 El Nino weather anomalies

Severe weather impacts people

Human Choices

Change nothing.

Change something.

September 20, 1940   'Smog' Hits Radio City,  Blackening Passers-By.

  October 31, 1948'Smog' Linked to 18 Deaths in Day And Hospital Jam in Donora, Pa.

December 5-9, 1952  

London’s Killer Fog12,000 people die.

1970 Clean Air Act passed. Implementation delegated to USEPA.

EPA delegated authority for non-federal sources to states (CARB)

CARB delegatedauthority for stationarysources to air districts.

Ladder of Responsibility

Ladder of Responsibility cont.

• 1977 Oil Embargo Pres. Carter puts solar panels on white house roof.

• 2006 CA legislature passed the Global Warming Solutions Act (Nunez) & delegated implementation to ARB to coordinate with other agencies and stakeholders.

• ARB developed a Scoping Plan outlining a path forward with input from approx. 2,000 stakeholders.

AB 32 Goal

• Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020.

• Approximately 15% from current levels

Develop a plan (Scoping Plan)Consider economics (more urgent w/2008 recession)

Consider public healthWork collaboratively

Inside the Scoping Plan

Major contributions to Greenhouse gases from Transportation, Energy generation & use, and large industrial sources.

Smaller contributions from Agriculture, Forestry and others.

Inside the Scoping Plan Transportation

• Low-Carbon Fuel Standard. This measure alone is expected to reduce California’s oil consumption by up to 20 percent.Complimentary measures:

Port electrification, clean trucks, clean cars, SB 375 local government GHG targets.

Clean Cars-complimentary measure

• ARB adopted amendments to the “Pavley” regulations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in new passenger vehicles from 2009 through 2016.

 

Inside the Scoping Plan - High Global Warming Potential Gases

• Commercial refrigerant rule. Large commercial refrigeration systems reduce leaks, and employ best management practices.

• Pound for pound, these refrigerants are much more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Inside the Scoping Plan – Industrial Sources.

• Cap and Trade. Caps greenhouse gases emitted by approximately 360 entities power plants, refineries, cement plants and other sources emitting 25,000 MMTCO2e/yr. (approx. 600 facilities).

• Major piece of Climate Change program.

Entering a New Era

Energy & Water Conservation

AB 32 is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging conservation as well as moving toward clean & efficient energy.

See

http://www.coolcalifornia.org

33% by 2020Renewable Energy

• The Renewable Energy Standard is by far the biggest and most important of the climate measures and has a major positive benefit to the economy.

Renewable Energy Facts not Myths

• Californians have reaped the benefits of efficiency from unprecedented appliance and building standards.

• Measures have saved more than $56 billion in the past 30 years

• Money kept in consumers’ pockets, helped the economy grow, producing jobs.

Benefits

• Transition to clean energy, reduce petroleum dependence, increase energy security.

• CARB & Federal regs harmonize.

• Economic growth rate approx. 2.4% through 2020.

• Fuel expenditures drop 4.9% in 2020 vs growing at 1.7%.

• 57 gallons of gas less per capita (20 billion gallons)

• Job growth approx 2 million (0.9%). Shift to clean tech & renewable energy.

Jobs

Engineering – materials, electronics, geology, hydrology. Civil, environmental, space, nuclear.

Science – research, technology. Physics, biology, climatology, chemistry.

Planning – urban, architectural, land use.

Entrepreneurial – service, IT, inventions.

Investment

• Clean Energy Trends said $63.5 Billion on wind farms & turbines up 23.5% from 2009

• Global biofuel market rose 29% to 44.9 Billion.

• 2009 CA #1 in clean energy investment. $2.1 Billion (60% of North America total)

• Power developers lining up to install wind turbines on Tehachapi ridges.

Investment cont.

• SCE building 173-mile transmission line to the crest of Tehachapi's.

• Clean Energy Systems demonstration power plant runs on natural gas emits steam and carbon dioxide to be sequestered 7,000’ below ground in the oil fields near Bakersfield (federal pilot project on carbon sequestration).

“A New “Industrial Revolution?”

CEO of Serious Materials, Inc Magazine’s 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year.

“This is a new industrial revolution. It doesn’t happen once in a lifetime. It happens once in 100 years.” Kevin Surace

What does this mean for you?

Energy savings opportunities

Venture capital investment

Federal and state funding

Opportunities for innovators, educators, students, volunteers.

ARB Resource Pages

• Chairman’s Air Pollution Seminar Series topics & presentations: http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/sem10.htm

• ARB Climate Change website: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/cc.htm

• Local Government Actions: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/localgovernment/localgovernment.htm

Create the future.

Additional Resources

• http://www.nasa.gov NASA scientists confirm earth’s energy is out of balance.

• http://www.greenforall.org Activist site to ensure equitable participation in green economy.

• http://www.csmonitor.com The Future of Energy.• http://www.edf.org Green Jobs Guidebook.• http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org Clean

Energy Economy Report.